Statement by the office of Prime Minister Haniya about preventing the Italian delegation to enter the Gaza Strip

The Palestinian Territories are suffering form the siege imposed for years on the Palestinians specially in the Gaza strip, where 1,5 million people live under the sanctions and the closure of the passages.

In this week the Occupation authorities prevented an Italian delegation from entering the Strip to express their solidarity with the isolated people and to see how misery is the situation in Gaza, how do the sanctions affect their lives. The delegation also was schedule to estimate the medical situation in Gaza, which is on the verge to collapse due to the lack of the Medical supplies.

The delegation consisted from well-known figures, representatives, Academics and Human Rights' activists from the Italian society, including the Senator Fernando Rossi, and the member of "Gaza Will Live Committee" Leonardo Mazzei.

Even they were not allowed, the delegation was determined to enter the Gaza Strip, they expressed their refusal to the Israeli prevention by making a sit-in in the Italian Consulate in Jerusalem and anther one near the Nativity Church, in spite of the coordination by the Italian Foreign Ministry to allow the delegation to enter the Strip and to meet with the Prime Minister Ismael Haniya and the Deputy Speaker Dr. Ahmad Bahar.

Thus, we consider not allowing such delegation to visit Gaza as an Israeli attempt to disguise the terrible facts resulted from the illegal sanctions and from the daily Israeli crimes, killings and assassinations to be witnessed by the Europeans.

Also, it is clear from the Israeli prevention that they do not want to see any kind of solidarity with people in Gaza.

We are very thankful and grateful to the Italian delegation for its attempts to visit us, and we invite all the international NGOs to send delegations to see how the Palestinians are suffering from an illegal isolation, and to convince your governments to pressure on the Occupiers to end their shameful crimes that do not differentiate between a child, woman or old-man.

We confirm to our people that we will keep working to break the siege, we will keep clinging to our national principles, we will disclose to the World the atrocities and crimes committed by Israel against our people and we will engage with the International Community for the purpose of reclaiming our rights.

Gaza, 26/12/07